Fate's Return (Twisted Fate, Book 2)

Chapter Six

"Aly!" He jumped over the counter in one fluid motion and ran over to me, and I froze.

What did I do wrong? Oh God, was I going to be in trouble because of what happened with Gabe? I didn't help him? Seriously, they could not blame me. Even if I hadn't told them what a freak I was during my initial job interview, the news had shown everyone in Hidden Springs my freak status—they couldn't have missed it.

Mike stopped in front of me and paused, a half-smile lifting the corner of his lips, but he didn't yell. He pulled me into a breath-stealing hug and slapped me on the back while Gabe scowled at us from his seat. Mike happy? Gabe not so much?

Yep, he knew what had happened this morning.

It was just another stupid memory I wouldn't be able to live down. How could I find that as funny as Mike seemed to? Add it to the other fifty thousand moments I'd accumulated, and I could make a comedian's career. Amazing. I should just hang a sign around my neck to say, "Laugh first, and ask questions later." Or just stick around if you would like a good laugh over my next brain fart moment.

"If you hug me any longer, I'll be in a position to collect a big fat sexual harassment law suit." Like that would happen. I rolled my eyes and spread my arms out to my sides. "Seriously, bordering on PDA here."

He let go, watching me as closely as he had just been holding me, and I stepped back, dropping my gaze to the floor. Why couldn't I be as confident as Suzie? I could feel his eyes on me but was too scared of the disappointment he might be expressing that I couldn't look to figure out what he saw.

"Aly?"

I turned, raising my eyebrows, gaining the nerve to look at Mike. "Huh?"

"Next time you think Gabe deserves a slap, please, please, please catch it on camera." He unfolded his hands like a book, laughing as he looked over his shoulder to Gabe, and then sobered to nod at me. "Video is preferred, but stills will do. Better yet, use my number for once, and call me so I can watch."

Leaning to the right, I peeked around Mike to look at Gabe. "Only if you tell him to warn me before he scares the beejeezus out of me." I straightened and smiled at Mike. "This place doesn't have enough mugs to break if that happens again."

"Hey, I can't tell him what to—"

A pretty face like his didn't deserve to be hit, but why were hot guys always so dumb? It was like a prerequisite to looking good. Belong on the cover of GQ? Don't count on having a brain. If you're lucky enough to be smart and make girls drool? Be prepared to be a complete ass.

Mike was usually the exception.

But, since today he wasn't, his pretty face deserved to be smacked, though I was nice and tapped him on the side of his head instead.

"What was that for?" He rubbed his head, furrowing his brow.

"Why don't you ask your brother?" I asked, pulling up the hood of my fleece, and headed out the front door into the rain. Gabe could tell him what an asshat they both were for not telling me they'd done a last-minute switch, causing my early-morning heart attack.

No longer wanting to run, and despite getting soaked, I splashed through each puddle as though it were another jab in Gabe's too-smug face. Every stomp was another hit against his ego, and each time I heard the drops of water rise into the air, I imagined him yelping in pain. It kept me from running back to make it a reality.

A car passed me, and I managed to step aside in time to avoid being sprayed, though I couldn't get any wetter at this point. I splashed into another puddle, and then dodged back to stay closer to the grassy side of the sidewalk, away from the street, as another car purred up from behind me. But instead of passing me, it slowed down.

Count to ten before you freak. I forced myself to look up. Damn. I had two guesses at who might be driving the silver Jetta keeping pace beside me, and only one would make today better.

"Where's your car?" Gabe asked as the passenger window slid down.

Not. Better.

Keeping my head bent to count the cracks in the sidewalk—a pathetic attempt to distract myself—I played with my iPod in my pocket. Could I listen to it in the rain without ruining it? Ignoring Gabe was almost worth chancing it. Almost. But I didn't want to spend money replacing it if I was wrong.

Why couldn't it have been Mike? Or even Raffy?

"Alyssa, come on," he yelled as the rain grew louder. The wind picked up and the sky split apart to open its dam. "Get in the car and I'll drive you home."

Splash! In my mind he had a black eye.

"Don't be stupid! Get in."

I stopped. Stupid? He thought I was stupid? Idiot. I jumped in the car and slumped into a wet ball in the passenger seat. The moment his eyes darted back to navigating the road, I reached over and flicked him in the side of the head, and then sat back and smiled.

His hand flew up. "Stop hitting me!"

"Jerk."

"What the—?" Re-gripping the steering wheel, he looked to the road and back to me, pressing his mouth tight. "How am I a jerk?"

"Because I said so."

"Right, and that just makes all the sense in the world." He glanced at me again and rolled his eyes. "Do you mind if I borrow that? The next time I feel like being less than sane, I'll just say I acted that way because Alyssa said so, and then everything will magically be okay."

"That would require people thinking you were sane to start with, so I'm afraid it won't work for you. Sorry."

"Why are you always so defensive?"

"Why are you always an ass?" I countered and ran my hand over the top of my head to bring my hood down. If I caught a cold, I was blaming it on him.

We passed the next two blocks in silence. Stubborn vs. stubborn, and I had grown too accustomed to winning to give in. Not with Gabe.

"I like your haircut, by the way," he said.

"What?" I jerked my head up. "Where did that come from?"

He smiled. It was probably the first time he'd ever smiled at me in earnest, but Gabe only glanced sideways just for a moment before looking back at the road. "You're the kind of girl guys can't win with, aren't you? Am I in trouble now for noticing that you hacked it off? Would you feel better if I said it looked hotter long?"

I bit my cheek to keep from laughing, but in the end, I couldn't help it. Neither could he. By the time he dropped me off, it was like this morning hadn't happened, and the rain didn't add to a gloom that no longer existed.

Standing on the sidewalk five minutes later, I watched his tail lights blink right, and then turn out of sight at the end of the block. With a shake of my head, I turned to make my way to my front door, digging in my jacket pockets. My smiled faded. I pulled everything out, one-by-one, and couldn't find my keys. Juggling my change and iPod, I tried holding it all in one hand to search under the mat but lost my grip.

The iPod fell into a puddle.

"Dammit."

Crouching, I picked it up, shaking it left and right, and then up and down. The screen was waterlogged. Crap. But even worse... With my parents gone, I was locked out.

Stupid moment number fifty thousand and one: I pictured my keys in my room and groaned—they were right beside my phone.